The new 38th Edition of the Blue Book of Gun Values is slated for release on April 1, 2017. You can currently pre-order the price guide through Amazon.com. The Blue Book of Gun Values by S.P. Fjestad is the leading gun valuation resource. There are now 1.6 million copies in circulation worldwide.
Blue Book of Gun Values, 38th Edition
Publication Date: April 1, 2017
2512 Pages with 30,000 gun descriptions, and 175,000+ Prices
Over 1500 Makes Covered
This new edition contains updated values for countless firearm types. 2017 makes and models have been included, along with important pricing updates on many current and discontinued models. This new edition contains significantly updated values and information reflecting changes in the gun industry.
CD-ROM and Online Subscription Options
You can also purchase the latest 38th Edition of the Blue Book in Flash Drive format. Also, all the data in the 38th Edition is available via an Online Subscription. To subscribe or buy the Flash Drive, visit Bluebookofgunvalues.com.
Features of the new Blue Book of Gun Values:
· Important pricing updates on major trademark current, antique, and discontinued models, including Colt, Winchester, Smith & Wesson, and Sturm Ruger.
· 2017 makes and models have been included, with many new handgun and rifle products from many manufacturers.
· 2,512 Pages of content includes nearly 1,500 manufacturers and trademarks, almost 30,000 gun model descriptions, and over 175,000 prices.
· More information, more values, and more history than any other guide on the market, by far!
Sample Page from Blue Book of Gun Values:
Review by Tom Gresham, Gun Talk Radio Host
“At some point, every gun owner asks the question, ‘What’s it worth?’ The leading reference for decades has been the Blue Book of Gun Values. Whether you are a seller, a buyer, a shopper, or just curious, this constantly-updated gold mine of research is your friend.”
We liked (and used) Lyman’s Digital Trigger Pull Gauge before, and now it’s even better. Lyman has updated its pull gauge to be faster and more precise. The new gauge measures trigger pull weights from 1 ounce to 12 pounds with resolution of 0.1 ounces (2.8 grams). We think that anyone running match triggers below 2.5 pounds pull weight should have a gauge like this. Among the pull gauges on the market, we think the new Lyman unit now offers the best performance for the price — this gauge has a $59.95 MSRP, and expect to see it for under $50.00 when it is available. We like the new adjustable, 4-position rod which retracts into the gauge body.
Upgrades: More Precise Strain Gauge | Improved Grip Shape | Adjustable Rod Lengths
Lyman’s new, improved Electronic Digital Trigger Pull Gauge is designed to be the fastest and most accurate trigger pull gauge available. State-of-the-art strain gauge technology allows for repeatable accuracy of 1/10 ounce (2.8 grams). The gauge features a large, easy-to-read LCD display and you can switch from ounces to grams with the push of a button. The gauge can also deliver a pull weight average of the last 10 readings. That’s very helpful, particularly when working with factory triggers that may not be very consistent.
The new model Trigger Pull Gauge features a solid, collapsible rod with four locking positions. Being able to adjust length makes it easier to use the gauge with a wide variety of firearms. The locking feature prevents the rod from flexing when applying pressure to the trigger. When not in use, the rod conveniently collapses into the gauge body, making the whole unit more compact. The new Trigger Pull Gauge comes in an internally-padded plastic case that can be easily stored in a drawer or on your work bench. The old-style Lyman gauge (shown below) had a limited rod-length adjustment range, and the rod needed to be removed to store the gauge in its soft case.
CZ offers good “bang for the buck” in both rimfire and centerfire rifle line-ups. We’ve always liked the CZ 455 rimfire rifles — especially as fitted in Manners stocks. For 2017, CZ has introduced some interesting new options including a great looking new Model 557 Varmint rifle. Here we’ve embedded a couple videos that cover the new offerings. New CZ 2017 Firearms LINK.
New Model 557 Varmint
The new CZ Model 557 Varmint rifle features a new, ergonomic stock with a heavy contour 25.6″ barrel. The newly-designed walnut stock features a palm swell, laser-cut stippling, and a flat fore-end. This makes the rifle excellent for shooting off a bench with a front rest. The 557 Varmint is chambered in .308 Win or .243 Win. We suspect most purchasers will get the .243 Win version for use in the varmint fields. Note however, the 6mm barrel has a 1:10″ twist so you can’t shoot the heavier 95 to 110-grain 6mm bullets. Potentially, the .308 Win version could be a budget F-TR rifle, with the right bipod set-up up front. The 1:10″ twist of the .30-Cal barrel allows it to shoot bullets up to about 200 grains, making it suitable for long-range competitions.
CZ 455 Varmint Precision Trainer
The 455 Precision Trainer was designed to provide the same look and feel as a full-size tactical rifle while allowing for more economical training. Using a Manners Composite T4 stock, the Precision Trainer wears a new camouflage paint scheme this year. The stock itself has multiple layers of carbon fiber and fiberglass hand-laid in high temperature epoxy resins. This rifle is known for good accuracy, making it a good choice for target work as well as rimfire tactical games. This is offered in both 20″ and 24″ barrel versions. The 24-inch model has a heavy barrel that tapers to the muzzle, differing from the standard .866″-diameter Varmint barrel profile.
NEW .30-Caliber Model 527
The new Suppressor-Ready Model 527 is equally happy shooting steel or taking down hogs. Chambered in .300 Blackout or 7.62×39mm, it’s got enough knock-down power for small to medium-sized game at shorter ranges. Built on a short .223-length action, the CZ 527 features a classic American pattern stock, a sporter-weight, hammer-forged barrel, a single set trigger, and a recessed target crown. Made to be used with optics, the American version ships with 1″ steel scope rings.
Tired of hauling around an old-fashioned Score Book and making entries with pencil and paper? Well now you can go digital — Creedmoor Sports has released a full-featured Scoring Book App that lets you plot your shot locations using an iPhone, iPod, or iPad (Apple tablet). The price is right — just visit the iTunes store to download the App for FREE.
Record Match and Practice Data
This new App, available for free in the Apple App Store, provides all the same functions and capabilities of the traditional Creedmoor print Data Book, but with the convenience and ease of recording your match and practice information with your iPhone or tablet. With this App you can break your 20 shot slow-fire segments into either 10- or 20-shot targets, and also opt for sighting shots. All the specific event data can also be recorded, such as location, wind, light etc., along with wind and elevation adjustments.
COMMUNICATIONS Restrictions: In some matches you are not allowed to have electronic communication ability, so you may have to set your iPhone to “Airplane Mode”, or use this only with an iPod (which does not have two-way communication capability).
Our friends at Targetshooter Magazine just returned from the IWA Outdoor Classics trade show in Germany. With 1455 exhibitors and over 45,530 attendees from around the globe, the IWA exhibition is a major event that rivals the USA’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas.
Here are some highlights from TargetShooter’s IWA Trade Show Report:
Target Optics
Perhaps this is a good place to start, with the latest long-range March offering, the High Master. This is a superb 10-60x56mm scope with a 34mm tube and ED glass. I predict that this scope will once again set the bar for the serious F-Class shooter. Obviously you can’t assess a scope like this at an exhibition, but I hope Target Shooter will have one soon for a proper test.
Tactical Rifle
This year, Tikka decided it was time they got in on the act and staged a press seminar to launch their version – the T3x TAC A1. This one doesn’t go the full AR butt route but has a very nice folding stock and, in spite of this and a 24-inch barrel, keeps the weight down to a respectable 5.1 kg (11.24 lb). Tikka has a very large following and I suspect this one will be a great seller, especially in the 6.5 Creedmoor chambering with 10-shot magazine.
Actions
Another action which caught my eye was from a Canadian company called Ultimatum Precision. They had incorporated some really useful features into their ‘Rem footprint’ action and, being Canadian, it might be more accessible without all the American ITAR nonsense. It incorporates a three-lug, floating bolt-head design which means that caliber changes are a cinch, especially with the option of a barrel-nut fixing. It comes with a hard, black finish and will be offered in the usual bolt/port configurations.
Kruger of Germany produces match targets for the ISSF and major World Championships. Kruger’s quality control is second to none. Now officially-licensed NRA targets are available from Kruger Premium Targets in the USA. With elite competitions being decided by thousandths of an inch in shot placement, shouldn’t your club use the best-quality targets available? Kruger targets are made from premium-grade paper to permit precise, reliable measurements. For example, to ensure that target holes do not have irregular edges, Kruger’s NRA Air Rifle and Air Pistol targets are printed on machine-smoothed 210 gram board made from short-fiber materials. Mike Krei, Director of the NRA’s Competitive Shooting Division, has stated: “It is generally accepted that Kruger has the best heavy pulp target paper in the world and that directly relates to the excellent clean bullet holes which are essential for precise scoring.”
Kruger offers the full array of official NRA air rifle, air pistol, international pistol, and smallbore targets. In addition, Kruger sells photo-realistic Animal Targets, plus a cool series of Fun Targets for plinking and informal practice. Kruger targets can be ordered online through www.Kruger-US-Targets.com or you can call Kruger’s USA distributor, MK Tactical, at (503) 746-6816. MK Tactical is located in Hillsborough, OR.
The IWA Outdoor Classics trade show, aka “Euro SHOT Show”, opened today, March 3rd, in Nuremberg, Germany. For the next four days (March 3-6), 1455 exhibitors will show their products at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre. This is a hugely popular event — last year’s IWA Outdoor Classics trade show attracted 45,530 trade visitors from 115 countries, and attendance should be even higher this year. IWA is Europe’s biggest combined trade show for the hunting, shooting, and civilian/military security industries. And this year, IWA Outdoor Classics was coordinated with EnforceTac, a two-day Law Enforcment/Security trade show held in Nuremberg March 1-2, 2017.
IWA even features an indoor Archery Range. For many years, the Archery Range has been a popular gathering place where exhibitors and visitors can practice their skills and learn about the latest archery products up close and personal.
About the IWA Outdoor Classics Trade Show
What is now the IWA Outdoor Classics trade show began 44 years ago as Germany’s national product show for gunsmiths and gun retailers. That product show started modestly in 1973 with less than 100 exhibitors. Over the past four decades IWA Outdoor Classics has grown into a massive event, drawing the major players in the hunting, security, and shooting sports industries. In the firearm universe, the IWA event is second only to America’s SHOT Show in importance.
The NBRSA has liberalized its rules regarding front sandbags. Until this year, NBRSA rules required that benchrest competitors be able to lift their rifle fore-ends freely from the front bag. Accordingly, front bags could not “capture” the forearm or hold the gun down (i.e. keep it from rising). In order to meet this requirement, “legal” bags had straight sides that didn’t stand too far up.
Now the NBRSA rules have changed. You no longer have to be able to lift the gun up freely from the bag without interference. It’s now permissible to have a bag that offers some up/down retention. Check out this new bag from Edgewood Shooting Bags. Call “The EDGE”, it offers taller side sections that can hold the fore-arm in place and counter torque.
Edgewood’s designers state: “There are a couple of [NBRSA] rule changes for 2017. The change we found most intriguing was that the requirement of being able to lift your fore end freely from the front rest has been removed. So, we came up with a new design with super tall ears which will allow the innovators to push the envelope. Let’s see what you can do with these…”
We expect this new type of front bag will help stabilize short-range benchrest rifles, particularly in the 10.5-lb Sporter and Light Varmint classes. But we expect the biggest gains will be had with the big-caliber rifles used in Mid-Range and Long Range benchrest competition. In the 1000-yard game, heavy-recoiling 7mm and .30 caliber cartridges are popular with many shooters. These big guns generate considerable torque despite their ample weight. We predict these “super-sized” front bags will reduce both hop and rolling motion (torque) in the big guns.
We also expect that some varmint hunters will experiment with high-sided front bags that wrap around the fore-end. Such front bags may prove a real boon for guns with narrower, sporter-style fore-ends. And it would be interesting to see if this kind of tall-sided bag design will be incorporated into portable sandbags for the PRS game. We shall see…
Rule Change and Product Tip from EdLongrange. Product Tip from Boyd Allen. We welcome reader submissions.
If you watch just one episode of Shooting USA TV this year, it should probably be this week’s hour-long SHOT Show Special. Tonight, March 1, 2017, enjoy a full hour of SHOT Show coverage. Jim Scoutten’s team of gun journalists work hard every January, bringing you highlights from the gun industry’s largest trade show. Jim, son John Scoutten, and other staffers prowled the 12 miles of aisles in the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas, visiting many of the 1,600+ exhibitors. This episode provides a “first look” at the new guns, optics, and gear introduced for 2017. Click HERE to learn more about this week’s SHOT Show episode.
2017 SHOT Show Highlights: Savage MSR Rifles, GA Precision Tempest Action, Smith & Wesson M&P 10 in 6.5 Creedmoor, Colt double-action Cobra, STI Match pistols and a whole lot more.
Shooting USA Hour AIR TIMES
Shooting USA’s SHOT Show Special will air for a full hour on Wednesday, March 1, 2016 on the Outdoor Channel. Here are the air times, but you should check your local schedule. Look for Shooting USA TV on the Outdoor Channel.
Wednesday Night Schedule:
Eastern Time – 9:30 PM; 1:00 AM (TH)
Central Time – 8:30 PM; Midnight (TH)
Mountain Time – 7:30 PM; 11:00 PM
Pacific Time – 6:30 PM; 10:00 PM
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Here are some of the 50+ new products featured on the SHOT Show Special:
Readers often ask us, “Who makes a durable, airline-worthy hard case big enough for long-barrel match rifles?” Here’s a good option — the Plano Field Locker Double Long Gun Case.
A full 54″ long inside, this Plano case will hold big rifles with 30-31″ barrels. This case is very sturdy, and will survive rough handling at airports. The case has tough latches, watertight seals, and wheels for easy transport. Right now this case is just $111.50 with Free Shipping for Amazon Prime members. This is the lowest price ever on Plano’s largest gun case.
One buyer confirms this Plano case will fit long match rifles: “It holds two 17-lb bench rifles with 30″ barrels. It is very heavily made — even more stout than a Pelican 1750. Only draw back is the weight with two guns, over 60 pounds. But for shipping guns to a match, even the airline baggage handlers couldn’t damage this case! Case is great for two long guns!” (Smitty)
Another certified buyer states: “I bought this case for a Savage 110BA .338 Lapua Magnum, and it’s so nice that I just bought a second one for a 50 BMG. There are very few rifle cases that will fit the larger rifles… and this is a great choice for the heavy caliber rifles with long barrels.” (Bruce L.)
Plano’s new Field Locker line of gun cases features reinforced construction, watertight seals, double-density foam, industrial draw-down latches and customizable inserts. These quality cases, engineered to military specifications, rival the protection offered by Pelican and SKB cases at less than half the price.
Features:
+ Cut to Fit Foam
+ Extra Wide Latches
+ Wheeled case for ease of transport
+ Cases designed to stack and interlock
+ Exterior 56.38″ x 18″ x 7.25″
+ Interior 54″ x 15″ x 6.38″
Model number#: 109540
Tired of hauling around an old-fashioned Score Book and making entries with pencil and paper? Well now you can go digital — 
Kruger of Germany produces match targets for the ISSF and major World Championships. Kruger’s quality control is second to none. Now officially-licensed NRA targets are available from 
